Briggs Creek

Picnic shelter at Sam Brown Campground

  • Easy (to ford)
  • 4.8 miles round-trip
  • 210 feet elevation loss
  • Open all year
  • Use: hikers, horses, bikes


  • Moderate (to Onion Creek)
  • 7.8 miles round-trip
  • Open except in high water
  • 600 feet elevation loss


Starting at a gold mining ghost town, the trail along this mountain stream west of Grants Pass passes old hydraulic mines and crosses a flume ditch on its way to an abandoned miner’s cabin. And yet this is not just a path for mining history buffs. The valley’s old-growth forest and lovely creekside scenery have survived the area’s rough-and-tumble gold rush era surprisingly well.

From Interstate 5 …

Other Hiking Options

Explorers will want to look behind the cabin’s porch …

This chapter taken from the book 100 Hikes in Southern Oregon.